Tamales

December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Since Maria was named for this vision of Mary, it's her special day, so right after school we scooted out the door to Mass. (To clarify, "school" consisted of James screaming for 2 1/2 hours and everyone else generally being restless and difficult.) At Mass the boys did their impression of Chevy Chase as an altar server (well, not quite that bad) while the others decided to get in touch with their pentecostal roots. Perhaps the 100 year-old woman with the cane who sat on the other side of them found this amusing; their mother did NOT.

For a while I have been drooling for today since it is Tamale Day and the, uh, baby has really been craving tamales. Monday I made the meat, yesterday the chile sauce, and this morning the masa (dough), so when we got home, I tucked the little guys in for naps and happily agreed to let the bigger kids go across the street to throw rocks into the creek. And then for the next 2 1/2 hours I tried to encourage an oil-based dough to smoothly spread onto a water-infused corn husk....40 times.

While I did this, I reminisced about the tamales of Christmasses past...the year I was cured of tamales by a case of stomach flu....when, as a young teen, I pushed my way through a crowd of non-English speakers to buy prepared masa, money above my head in one hand and how many pounds of masa I needed shown on the other...when I was a little older, lending a hand in the assembly process and hearing my mom say, "No, Rachel, that is too thick. Make it thinner." or "Make the husk this big." or "Don't spread it so high, or it won't cook properly." Mom's directions especially made the whole process a success, but when Cecilia showed up to help, I handed her a spoon, a hunk of dough and a husk and let her go at it on her own.

Tonight's dinner included these delicious, homemade tamales, fresh cooked pinto beans with a sprinkle of cheese, and (thanks to a last minute check the emergency stash in the freezer) virgin pina coladas. We all ate well (Bill held himself down to 6), and some of the extras will be shared with our friends for Christmas presents.

By the way, listen to your mother (or failing that, listen to my mother). Even if greatly temptated, do not eat store-bought tamales. When we went to buy hojas (corn husks), I was drooling for a delicious, spicy tamale so I decided to try the El Salvadoran kind made at the store. I'm pretty sure that "El Salvadoran" does not mean slimy, flavorless, and including chicken neck vertebrae. But "store-bought" does.

Lullaby Time

As they drift off to a night of peaceful rest, the kids nightly request a lullaby, and I love to sing them if I have the energy. Here are the songs at the top of the lullaby hit parade right now:

-10 Little Fingers, 10 Little Toes "special"--meaning that you must tunefully insert things that the body part does relating to a theme from "my mom, my twin and me" to "Kopaka, toa of ice"
-Hail Holy Queen
-Daddy's Little Girl usually altered to Mommy's Little Boy
-Star Spangled Banner (tickle version)
-Ghost of John
-Here Comes Peter Cottontail
The other night Bill made it home before bedtime, so he was called to sing a lullaby. He chose to sing the entire group the jingle from the Monchichi TV ad. They loved it.

O Come, Thou Dayspring

This week we are:

*Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec 12th. This is Maria's feast day.

*Learning the next 2 verses of Veni, Veni Emmanuel. I think my playing gets worse each night, but the singing is improving.

*Mailing gifts and trying to finish the shopping

*Planning for Marc's visit starting Dec 24th-ish

*Making jar crafts for Maria's Little Flowers craft day on Friday

*Completing Christmas outfits

A Visit from St. Nicholas

"St. Nicholas or Santa Claus?" seems to be THE question this time of year over at my favorite Catholic homeschool site. Back before the kids really knew what was going on, I decided that at our house the guy in the red suit would only be St. Nicholas. We call him St. Nicholas, we know the story of his life as a persecuted bishop of Myra, we have read about his generosity during his lifetime and the miracles attributed to him after his death, and we understand a little of the history of his secularization. But first and foremost we know St. Nicholas as someone who wants everyone to know and love Jesus. For that reason, we celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas--which is today--by leaving out my (handpainted Hanna Andersson) clogs on the eve of Dec. 5 and wait to see what St. Nick will bring to remind us of Who it is we are preparing for. If we can, we go to mass on the feast since that is really the best way to celebrate. And we always love to have a tea party, eat special treats, and read books related to the day.

Last night St. Nicholas left a bag of gold chocolate coins and gold dollars and the Epiphany story the Legend of Old Befana by Tomie de Paola; he couldn't resist adding a Playmobil playset of himself since he is accompanied by an angel--not an elf--as befits a saint who lives in Heaven and not at the North Pole. By noon most of the gold dollars had been donated to the kids' Christmas present to Jesus which they have been working odd jobs to save money for for about a month.

I will spare you the adventures I've had trying my friend Michelle's Speculaas recipe. Suffice it to say that I have eaten enough "tasters" to know that I did not produce the same yummy cookie she made when we celebrated together last year and to know that I will not regret a single cookie that the kids will decorate and not eat this afternoon.

Saint Nicholas does make one more stop here on Christmas Eve. He leaves a small, faith related gift and a few Sees suckers in the kids' stockings before he takes a back seat to the Real Star of the Day.

Welcome Winter

Today's view of the same spot where the kids posed in front of fall trees the other week.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Some ways that we are preparing in the first week of Advent:

*Finishing shopping for Christmas presents (3 left!) and ship the last few
*Lighting the advent wreath each night. This nativity advent wreath was a gift from my friend Heather last year.
*Packing away all the regular books and "strewing" the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany books
*Requesting as many books as possible from MacBeth's Fall, Winter and Christmas Opinions
*Singing Veni, Veni Emmanuel accompanied by me on the piano after lighting the wreath. I'm hoping we'll learn all the O Anitphons by the time they arrive
*Celebrating St. Nicholas' feast day--clogs out the night before!
*Daily Mass on Wednesday with an Advent lunch and reflection after at the post chapel
*Celebrating a soon-to-be-born (with any more complications very soon) and much prayed for and anticipated new baby boy expected by a dear friend
*Continuing to pray for our deployed and deploying friends and their families and friends...the Talbots, the Manrys, the LaTerzas, Fr. Albertson, Fr. Hubbs, and Fr. Wood and his family
*No red poinsettias this year since the major supplier is also a major donor to Planned Parenthood. Tomorrow we're planting some paper white narcissus in our bulb container gardens that we started last week.

Belly shot--20 something weeks

The baby is growing in grace and beauty, and my body is growing apace.
Based on where my body is growing, I still think she's a girl.

Tonight's baby food is Cowboy Chili (no beans) and Thomas' homemade cornbread. Anthony, Thomas, and I all had chili as a snack too since we couldn't wait for dinner. It is soooooooo yummy.

Did I mention I love Fall?